Golborne Vintage Radio

This sorry story is now over so I can tell.

I decided I'd like a plug-in hybrid car. Partly because it should suit my largely suburban jouneys, typically under 20 miles, which I should be able to do on a full charge without using any petrol. Partly because my old diesel Golf Plus was getting on in years and won't qualify for the new London ULEZ which will operate 24/7 probably from next year. I live about a mile outside the ULEZ boundary and often cross it. Unlike C and T charge where it's only weekday daytime and 8 miles from me into the centre and rarely need to go there in those hours. Partly because as a self employed person I can get a very decent capital allowance tax break on a hybrid or electric car - I'd had a good trading year and wanted a tax loss.

Last year I did my research and decided on a BMW225xe. Ordered last March and finally delivered at the end of September 2017. All very whizzy and luxurious. Not really my sort of thing but with the tax break I felt it would be nice.

Claimed electric range was up to 25 miles. Actual range never better than 13, average 10, worst 8. If you had a petrol car which promised up to 50mpg and averaged 20 you'd be unhappy. I certainly was. To cut a long story short I raised a complaint with BMW UK, 2 separate BMW dealers checked the car and found no fault. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says that a a product must be as described. If it isn't, then subject to certain conditions you can return it for a full refund. Had to pursue the dealer I bought it from, as  I have the contract with them. Even though it's not really their fault. After some negotaition, including a Letter Before Action from me, they agreed to take back the car and refund most of the purchase price. I could have pushed harder for the full amount and probably won, even if it meant a County Court action but it would have meant more time and hassle.

The car was collected last week and the refund has just arrived in my account. The end of a sorry saga.

As at least one GVR member knows, I now have a 5 year old Skoda Yeti. Much more my sort of car.

The tax liability for the profitable year has been sorted by making a lump sum payment to my pension fund. Dull but effective. The Skoda will be OK in the ULEZ. In a few years I'll look at electric and hybrid cars again. I love the ultra quiet and smooth drive of an electric motor.

I think electric cars still have a long way to go (pun not intended!) before they become a practical means of everyday transport. Also the infrastructure needed to support them must be installed and I'm not sure that the politicians have realised the strain charging all these cars will put on our already stretched electricity supply.

I was surprised to see a familiar "name" on the Yeti forum so welcome to the world of Yeti ownership. I've owned one since October 2012 initially a diesel 4x4 and since last May a petrol 4x4 as my annual mileage since retiring is not conducive to a diesel with its particulate filter. The 4x4 is primarily because of where we live, above the snowline on the south side of Bradford, and allowed me to have a better chance of getting home in the snow. It's been the best car I've had and hasn't put a wheel wrong since I had the first one. Also of all the cars I've had, the Skoda's have been the most reliable in spite of being the most complex cars I've owned.

From what you said on the Yeti forum your car is the same trim level as my first one and having owned a Golf you should find all the controls very familiar.

Keith

I think the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles appear to be a much more attractive proposition than batteries but we need to install more hydrogen filling stations like they are doing Los Angeles. "Charging" is as quick as filling up with petrol and range and performance are comparable too.

Peter

The range and charging problems will be solved in time. Tesla are probably leading at the moment but others will be working hard to catch up. With lots of electric cars they could also form a distributed grid scale storage system. Grid scale storage and wind/solar is the likely way to the future. In 20 years the world of power distribution and generation will be very different from now.

There might also be scope for a tiny portable petrol powered generator to keep in your car to get you moving slowly in emergency. I can't remember the name or much about it but a few months ago I saw an article about a novel tiny generator that might be right for the job. I think it converted reciprocating motion directly to electricity. not sure if there was an actual piston or not.

The Yeti's main controls are familiar but the secondary stuff and toys are all different.

Hi Jeffrey.
Just ask David Boynes what he thought of his Mitsubishi PHEV and its poor battery range, he didn't get his money back but did a trade in, no doubt with considerable loss.
Yes battery vehicles are not always the answer.
Enjoy the Skoda........ I did when they were proper ones.!!!!

ISTR David and his Mitsubishi. Perhaps I'm willing to take a harder line on consumer rights than he was. I paid £32K and got £28K back. I reckon 2K of that was fair enough for 6 months of having the car so I look at my real loss as 2K. I'm sure I could have done better but there's an art to knowing when to stop.

There was once a Yeti in Yorkshire
http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show....5e24_yehti

PS: Got he ULEZ stuff slightly wrong. 24 hour ULEZ comes in in April 2019 for the existing C/T charge area. This would have affected me occasionally with the old diesel Golf. The expanded ULEZ is proposed for 2021.

I'm impressed you did well with your dealings with BMW, I've heard some nasty stories especially with German companies, they seem to have an attitude that their products are never at fault, its the consumer that has the problem.
Like you say its how to handle these people and a proper knowledge of your rights.

I don't know how much the dealer actually worked with BMW on this. Nor how much of the hit was taken by the dealer and how much by BMW. Actually the cash hit for the dealer and BMW is small. They can probably resell the car for around £27K but they lose any profit margin and the valeting etc costs. The car was bought via Carfile: https://www.carfile.net/ If I was buying a new car I'd definitely use them again and recommend them wholeheartedly. They got a better discount than I was likely to be able to get myself. I think the list price was about £38K and I paid £32K. Hence the dealer's margin on the sale was lower than it might have been.

If I'd pushed the CRA stuff hard I reckon we'd have ended up with engineer's reports, epxert witnesses and a fair bit of extra expense and hassle. I'm sure I would have won in the end, thus costing them a lot more but I judged it not worth the fight. They probably did the inverse calculation - how little could they offer without risking me pushing it further. I don't know if I blinked too soon but I reckon I got as good a result as I could have done without a lot more work.

I am still waiting for the manufacturers to come up with a "drop in" battery so that you do not have to wait for the things to charge up each time.
Just change the battery like you do with a toy car. It is not beyond the technology we have now for gods sake.
I bet the air con took the charge out in no time during the cold weather.

Never actually used aircon which I knew sapped the battery. Was using heating of course. Also the battery performs worse in colder conditions.